Medicine Kills

The next front in the war of RU-486 is going to be its deadly side effects, its role as not only a baby killer, but a patient killer. And this guy's going to be the spokesman:

The father of a Livermore woman who died in 2003 after taking the RU-486 abortion pill is going international with his concerns over the drug's safety.

You can't argue with his loss, but let's put this in perspective. Including his daughter, there are four deaths that can potentially be linked to RU-486. But: :

(1996): "Each year, use of NSAIDs (Non-Steroidal Anti-Inflammatory Drugs) accounts for an estimated 7,600 deaths and 76,000 hospitalizations in the United States." (NSAIDs include aspirin, ibuprofen, naproxen, diclofenac, ketoprofen, and tiaprofenic acid.)

Medicine kills people. Medical treatment kills people. Being in hospitals kills people. Medical errors kill people. Improper treatment protocols kill people. Now, doctors, hospitals, and pharmaceuticals cure more than they kill, and we as a society have decided easing our headaches and muscle pains is worth 7,600 deaths a year, but pretending that medicine is safe and RU-486 is dangerous is just crap. Particularly considering the sum of the evidence:

Jennifer Blum of the international organization Gynuity, which promotes access to RU-486 and other forms of abortion considered safe, said RU-486 has been approved in about 35 countries, starting with France and China in 1988 and now including England, Sweden, Austria, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Spain, Israel and Russia. It was approved in the United States in 2000.

"There is no record, outside of these four deaths in California and the one in Canada, of Clostridium sordellii deaths anywhere in the world," Blum said. "The Europeans have had a good, extensive tracking service since the very first use of the drug in 1988."

Oppose RU-486 if you want, but it's not a dangerous drug. Not, at least, compared to aspirin.